Shimla:
Keeping up his attack on the Congress over Sam Pitroda’s comment on the anti-Sikh riots, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday said it reflected that party’s mindset.
Addressing a rally in Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi, Modi linked the remark to the opposition party’s arrogance , a mentality which he said will ensure that it gets even fewer than the 44 seats it won in the 2014 parliamentary elections.
Answering a reporter’s question Thursday on the 1984 riots, Congress leader Sam Pitroda had said hua to hua , which roughly translates as so what?
Hua to hua this is a reflection of the mentality of the Congress, the prime minister said, adding that nobody was brought to justice for years after the riots.
This is the arrogance of the Congress which brought it to 44 seats. This time the people will pull it down even further, he said.
“Our government is doing the job of dispensing justice for the sin committed by the Congress naamdars’ in 1984, Modi said, using the Hindi term by which he refers to dynasts .
It is the first time that justice is being done over the anti-Sikh riots; the perpetrators are being given life terms and death sentences, he said.
Modi’s speech in Mandi began less than 15 minutes after Congress president Rahul Gandhi ended his own in Una.
Both leaders were addressing their first rallies in Himachal Pradesh for these Lok Sabha elections.
Modi flayed the previous Congress government over the one rank, one pension (OROP), saying it spent only Rs 500 crore on it and misled retired soldiers.
The prime minister said his own government provided Rs 35,000 crore, implementing the OROP in the real sense.
Modi claimed Congress leaders have disrespected the army.
Congress and its mahamilawati sathi (alliance partners) term the Army chief a street goon and Air Chief Marshal a liar, he said, referring to past controversies over alleged remarks by opposition leaders.
He urged people to ensure a hat-trick for the Bharatiya Janata Party, following its victories in the 2014 parliamentary polls and the 2017 assembly elections.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, former CM Shanta Kumar and other state BJP leaders attended the rally.
BJP MP Ramswaroop Sharma is seeking re-election from Mandi.
He is pitted against former Union telecom minister Sukh Ram’s grandson Aashray Sharma, who is the son of a BJP leader but his grandfather is now back with the Congress.
Congress candidate Aashray Sharma’s father Anil Sharma, who recently resigned from the state cabinet but is still a BJP MLA from Mandi, did not attend the rally.
Voting for all the state’s four seats — Shimla (SC), Mandi, Hamirpur and Kangra — will take place on May 19.
Modi will return to Himachal Pradesh on May 13 to address another rally in Shimla.
